WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue women’s basketball coach Katie Gearlds could smile a little bit.
And it’s not just because her favorite NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs are playing for their third straight Super Bowl title.
Winning will do that after the Boilermakers secured its first Big Ten Conference victory by beating Wisconsin 84-71 at Mackey Arena last Sunday.
“Our team has stayed committed to working really hard chasing success,” Gearlds said. “It hadn’t shown up to outside eyes or the win column but we’ve slowly seen our team get better. It was really good to see them make shots against Nebraska to Wisconsin and escape with a win.”
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Freshman Kendall Puryear scored a game-high 18 points including 8-10 shooting off the bench to lead five Boilermakers who had double-digit point figures.
Sophomore Sophie Swanson scored 17 points including 8-8 from the free throw line, senior Ella Collier finished with 15 points including 3-4 from 3-point range, McKenna Layden playing a flex power forward role added 12 points and nine rebounds and sophomore Rashunda Jones added 10 points and five assists.
Purdue (8-14, 1-10 Big Ten Conference) might finally be turning a corner offensively after shooting 50% as a team for its second straight game.
Layden has become a catalyst as a rebounder and an asset from 3-point range after hitting four against the Badgers.
“The biggest thing for us is when she brings us defensive rebounding,” Gearlds said. “Whether it’s her timing, her length or just her understanding of the game. Her ability to defensive rebound has helped us. And she constantly moves in the halfcourt. She’s really mostly outside but can get 10-12 off a game because she moves and knows where she needs to be. I think everyone’s keys are starting to veer towards McKenna because they know she can get a shot off.”
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Purdue heads to New Jersey and will play Rutgers (9-14, 1-11 Big Ten) on Super Bowl Sunday as both teams try to claim a final 15 spot to make the Big Ten Conference tournament.
Puryear coming off one of her best games of the season feels the tide shifting in a more confident direction. The Boilermakers will attempt to win back-to-back games since victories over Miami (Ohio) and Indiana State between Dec. 17-21.
“We were coming off a 10-game losing streak but we learned a lot of things from all those games,” Puryear said. “It wasn’t just the losses. It was all a learning lesson. We took that into the Nebraska game, the Wisconsin game and we’re going to continue to get better heading into Rutgers.”
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@jconline.com, on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue coach Katie Gearlds sees improvement heading to Rutgers
